


Set in Stone

by The_Apocryphal_One



Series: Wherever, Whenever (Hinanami Week 2017) [1]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Colors with a twist, F/M, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-09
Updated: 2017-07-09
Packaged: 2018-11-30 00:37:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11452365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Apocryphal_One/pseuds/The_Apocryphal_One
Summary: They say when you meet your soulmate, the world loses all color. Hajime was just never expecting it to happen to him.





	Set in Stone

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: AU

They say when you meet your soulmate, the world loses all color.

Who “they” is, is inconsequential—they are faceless, the pioneers of science and literature and medicine, and all that matters is their skill in their fields. And they have long since deduced the phenomena of soulmates. It’s fair, they explain. You trade away the world’s vibrancy in exchange for the person who can bring you the greatest happiness, and to whom you can bring the greatest happiness. You never know their hair or eye or skin color, unless you’re lucky enough to see them before they see you, but not needing it is supposedly proof of how strong the love it.

Hinata Hajime has never paid the thought of finding his soulmate much mind. It’s pretty much impossible to find one person out of the billions in the world, and the truth is not everyone does find theirs. His own parents aren’t soulmates. They’d been high school kids, fooling around—until one day they were faced with the very real consequences of such escapades.

Personally, Hajime finds the entire concept a bit skeptical. It’s not as if you _need_ a soulmate to be happy, after all; his parents may resent him for the choice he’d forced on them, but they love each other, and there are other happy marriages between those who aren’t soulmates. Still, he doesn’t really do relationships, because there will always be that niggling doubt, “what if she finds her soulmate”? He has no qualms that no one would pick him over their destined lover, and he doesn’t want to face the pain of being replaced. He never once wonders if he’ll find his. Part of him actually kind of doubts he has one. How could someone like him bring great happiness?

He has, in fact, mostly relegated the concept of soulmates to a small corner in the back of his mind, when one day a girl bumps into him at school. But instead of apologizing and moving on, she stays pressed against his arm, the sounds of _Gala Omega_ coming from her console. He glances down at the top of her head. She’s got pink hair. It’s pretty, he thinks absently, preparing to move out of her way since she’s clearly not paying attention to her surroundings.

And then she looks up at him and he will never know what color her eyes are, because all the color in the world drains out like water going down a sink. His breath catches, and something electric and warm jolts through him. She must feel it too, because the console falls out of her hands as she stares back at him. He thinks she’s blushing, but he can’t tell because everything is monochrome and that’s throwing his perception off.

Hajime’s first thought is, _I guess all those people were right_ because he honestly feels as if he could just hold her gaze forever. Her. His soulmate. He has one. She’s right here.

His second is, _oh crap, what do I do?_

Dimly, he remembers she’d dropped her console. He manages not to make an idiot of himself when he picks her it up, hands it back to her, and asks whether she really is playing _Gala Omega_. Her face lights up in a gorgeous smile, and all the hesitation and awkwardness disappears, just like that.

Her name is Nanami Chiaki. She’s the Ultimate Gamer, her class’s rep, and she makes him believe in the concept of soulmates for the first time. Because when he’s with her—it’s like all his anxieties, his doubts about himself, fade away. They become less crippling, burdens he can shoulder rather than burdens that will crush him. She makes him laugh with her obscure video game references, she soothes him with her kind words, and she makes him—she just makes him _happy_. She points out all the good qualities he has when she notices him being down, lists everything she loves about him, and when he’s with her he can believe it.

Chiaki nuzzles into his shoulder, mumbling in her sleep. His lips pull up sadly at the dried tearstains on her cheeks. She’d been heartbroken when she found him getting thrashed by that _ass_ Sakakura, screaming for the first time since he’s known her and trying to pull the boxer off him. Then she’d insisted on taking him back to her dorm room to patch him up. She’d quickly fallen asleep after, giving him the time to muse over the words that had been beaten into him, quite literally.

Replaceable. Worthless. Nobody. Things he’d allowed himself to forget when he was with his soulmate. But still there, still true. And then, the things made _worse_ by his very presence.

Like the impact losing colors has on Chiaki, because some games have color-coded puzzles and now she can’t play those anymore. She always reassures him she doesn’t mind, but he can’t help the regret that swells in him whenever he thinks of it. Half-formed “I’m sorry”s die on his lips when he sees her glancing wistfully at those lost games, because it’s not that he’s _sorry_ to have her as a soulmate, never, it’s just—

He’s sorry she has _him_ as a soulmate. He doesn’t think he’s a very good one. No, he _knows_ he isn’t. He’s average in just about every way. He’s not worth trading the cools of winter, the pastels of spring, the greens of summer, the golds of fall, for. Definitely not worth trading her beloved games for. And it shames him, that Chiaki’s saddled with him. He’s gained everything from her, while he can’t think of a single possible thing she’s gained from him.

 _But it’ll be okay,_ he thinks as he gently eases out from Chiaki, positioning her body so she’s resting comfortably against her pillow. He really wishes he could say goodbye, but he doesn’t think he could go through with it if he looked her in the eye, and there are papers waiting to be signed.

He’s found a way to be someone worth losing the world’s colors for.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Everyone knows that "meet your soulmate and see colors" idea, but I thought: what if you reversed it? Meet your soulmate and LOSE colors? And boy did I like it, it works so much better with Hajime's character.
> 
> Once again, welcome to my submissions of drabbles for a ship week, this time Hinanami! And once again, sorry for making the first submission angsty...again...even with a prompt that screams "anything but angst"... but c'mon, I can't imagine Hajime's complex NOT getting bigger if he had a soulmate.


End file.
